Cable pull assist for self-propelled longwall miner



FIG. I.

Dec. 17, 1957 L 2,816,747

CABLE PULL ASSIST FOR SELF-PROPELLED LQNGWALL MINERY Filed May 18, 1956'2 Sheets-Sheet.1

l llf iil E II Rmvam CHARLES F. a

k ATTORNEY 0. F. BALL Dec. 17, 1957 CABLE PULL ASSIST FOR SELF-PROPELLEDLONGWALL MINER Fil ed May 18, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-v5. 4

E 11mm INVENTORZ CHARLES F. BALL ATTORNEY United States Patent Q CABLEPULL ASSIST FOR SELF-PROPELLED LON GWALL MINER Charles F. Ball,Franklin, Pa., assignor to Joy Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Penn sylvania Application May 18, 1956, Serial No.585,850

10 Claims. (Cl. 262--9) This invention relates to continuous miners andmore particularly to a longwall continuous miner having a cable pullassist for supplementing the machine propelling means and formaintaining the disintegrating head of the miner along its proper courseduring the mining operation.

The present invention relates to an improvement over the continuousminer disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 496,962, filedMarch 28, 1955, wherein, under certain conditions, it is found that thepropelling means for the machine is inadequate to force thedisintegrating head forwardly at the desired speed into the solidmineral of the mine vein, and that due to the structure of thedisintegrating head there is an inherent tendency of the machine-headbeing thrust outwardly from the face during the mining operation. Theimprovement of the present invention over the machine of the copendingapplication consists of the provision of a supplemental propelling meansfor aiding in the feeding of the disintegrating head into the mineraland for reducing the tendency of the head being thrust laterallyoutwardly from the face during the disintegration of the solid mineral.The improved supplemental feeding and thrust counteracting means of thepresent invention is desirably in the form of a cable pull assistembodying a hoist or winch having its cable operatively attached to theminer and exerting a constant forward pull on the latter at the outerside thereof as the miner advances along the longwall face.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved continuous miner having improved propelling and guiding means.Another object is to provide an improved propelling and guiding meanswhich also serves to counteract the thrust of the disintegrating headoutwardly from the face during the mining operation. Yet another objectis to provide an improved cable pull assist for a longwall miner andincluding a winch or hoist disposed in advance of the miner and towardwhich the miner moves as mining progresses. These and other objects andadvantages of the invention will however hereinafter more fully appearin the course of the ensuing description.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown for pur poses ofillustration one form which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view and Fig. 2 is a side view of a longwall miner inits operating position in a mine, and with which an illustrative form ofthe invention is associated.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front end view of the disintegrating head of theminer, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4- is an enlarged horizontal detail section taken on line 44 ofFig. 3, showing the cable connection.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the cable connection shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the winch or hoist.

In this illustrative construction, as shown in the drawings, thelongwall continuous miner is generally designated 1 and the improvedcable pull assist is generally designated 2.

The longwall miner is fully disclosed in my copending application SerialNo. 496,962 mentioned above, and generally comprises a mobile base 3,desirably a crawler base, adapted to travel over the floor of a mine andhaving mounted thereon an elongated frame or support 4 which carries atits front portion a mine vein attacking and disintegrating mechanism orso-called disintegrating head mechanism generally designated 5. Theattacking and disintegrating mechanism comprises a pair of cooperatingrotary boring instruments or so-called boring heads 6 and 7 disposed onparallel longitudinal axes, an upper or top and side trimming cutter 8extending transversely of the frame rearwardly of the boringinstruments, and side and bottom trimming cutters 9 and 10, the latterbeing arranged in a transverse zone intermediate the transverse topcutter and the boring instruments. Conveying means generally designated11 is arranged longitudinally within the frame 4 and comprises a frontelevating conveyor 12 and a cooperating rear discharge conveyor 13. Therear conveyor 13 may discharge on a conveyor 14 which may be of anysuitable type. The crawler base 3 comprises a frame 15 rigidly securedto side frames 16 about which endless crawler treads 17 are guided fororbital circulation. These crawler treads may be independently drivenand may be operated concurrently or separately to effect propulsion andsteering of the machine in a well-known manner.

In Figs. 1 and 3 the miner is shown advancing along a longwall face 18inwardly of a line of roof props 19.

The top and side trimming cutter 8 operates at the roof level andcomprises a guide frame 20 providing a guideway in which an endless looptype cutter chain 21 is guided for orbital circulation. The side andbottom cutters 9 and 10 are arranged at opposite sides of the frame 4and comprise guide frames 22 which provide guideways for endless looptype cutter chains 23. During operation of the disintegrating head theside and bottom cutter chains 23 move orbitally in relatively oppositedirections and thereby exert substantially balanced translerse forceswhile the top trim chain 21 has an unbalance force that tends to pull orpush the front end of the machine away from the face in the direction ofthe arrow shown at 24 in Fig. 3. The crawler treads may be operated sothat the machine may properly advance and by proper control of thetreads the operator may to some extent correct any deviations of forwardmachine movement as needed to produce a straight cut.

Under certain conditions it is found that the crawler treads areincapable of providing a suificient forward feeding force to effectadvance of the disintegrating head at the proper speed and that thetreads do not at all times provide adequate means for counteracting theoutward thrust of the disintegrating head from the face due to theunbalance force of the top trim chain 21. In order to overcome thesedeficiencies the improved cable pull assist is provided.

This cable pull assist comprises a conventional winch or hoist having ahoisting drum 26 journaled on a base 27 which may be suitably anchoredin position at the far end gate or entry 28 at the left-hand end of thelongwall face 18, as viewed in Fig. 1. A motor 29 on the base drivesthrough a suitable transmission mechanism a pump device 30 which maysupply fluid under pressure to a fluid motor 31 suitably operativelyconnected to the cable drum 26. Wound on the cable drum is a cable 32which, at its free end, is pivotally connected at 33 to a connector bar34, the latter desirably being curved at 35 to clear the cutters of theadjacent cutter chain 23. This connector bar 34 is pivotally connectedat 36 on a horizontal pivot pin 37, with the horizontal pivot disposedat right angles to the pivotal connection 33 of the cable with theconnector bar. Evidently the cable may be attached to the outer side ofthe miner head in any suitable manner.

The pull of the cable 32 at the outer side of the head frame produces acouple around the crawler tread support tending to counteract theopposing couple produced by the top trim chain, thereby tending to holdthe disintegrating head inwardly in its proper operating position.

The pump device 30 has its suction side connected in. a conventionalmanner to a suitable reservoir or tank 3? and there is a usual reliefvalve 40 adjustable to produce proper cable pull. This relief valve mayalso serve to prevent the building up of excessive pressures within thefluid system. The transmission 41 between the fluid motor 31 and thecable drum 26 is desirably of the conventional multi-speed type wherebythe cable may be wound in at relatively different speeds.

As the miner is advanced along the longwall face under the propulsion ofthe crawler base the cable 32 of the cable pull assist exerts a constantpull on the frame of the miner to supplement the crawler treads therebyto increase the crowd or forward driving force of the machine, and whenthe machine treads are stopped the hoist would simply stall, but wouldcontinue to exert a forward pulling force. The pull on the cable on theouter side of the head frame of the miner tends to swing the headinwardly toward the face thereby substantially to counteract theunbalance force of the upper trim chain which tends to move the headoutwardly from the face. The operator may control the crawler treads sothat the machine will properly advance and by the use of the treads theoperator may be properly control and correct any deviations in thedirection of advance as needed to cause the head to produce a straightcut.

As a result of this invention an improved longwall continuous minerwhich is relatively light in weight is provided whereby a powerful andstraight cut can be effected in the solid mineral of a mine vein. By theprovision of the cable pull assist the miner propelling means may notonly be supplemented but also the tendency of the disintegrating headbeing thrust outwardly from the face is substantially counteracted. Thedrum mechanism with its pulling cable provides an extremely simple andcompact means for supplementing the advancing force provided by thecrawler treads and also for counteracting the tendency of thedisintegrating head moving outwardly from the face. These and otheradvantages of the invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled inthe art.

While there is in this application specifically described one form whichthe invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that thisform of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that theinvention may be modified and embodied in various other forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a mining machine having propelling means and mineraldislodging and disintegrating mechanism moved forwardly along the faceof a mine vein in a direction parallel with the face, said dislodgingand disintegrating mechanism tending to force the front end of themachine outwardly from the face during the dislodg- 4 ing anddisintegrating operation, and auxiliary propelling means extending alongthe face of the mine vein and connected to the mining machine outwardlyof the face for counteracting the forces tending to move said mechanismoutwardly from the face and for supplementing said propelling means inthe propulsion of the machine.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said auxiliarypropelling means comprises a power winch located in advance of themachine and having a cable wound thereon and connected to the machineoutwardly of the race.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein said power winch has adriving motor, and controlling means for said winch to maintain asubstantially constant pull on said cable regardless of the speed ofadvance of the mining machine.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said propelling meansfor the machine includes independently controllable crawler treadswhereby the dislodging and disintegrating mechanism may be steeredproperly to advance the machine and correct any deviation from itscourse, to produce a straight cut.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said dislodging anddisintegrating mechanism includes continuously transversely movingdisintegrating elements traveling inwardly of the face.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said disintegratingelements are carried by a transversely moving portion of an endlessdisintegrating chain traveling inwardly of the face.

7. In combination, a mining machine having propelling means and mineraldislodging and disintegrating mechanism moved forwardly along the faceof a mine vein in a direction parallel with the face, said dislodgingand disintegrating mechanism tending to force the front end of themachine outwardly from the face during the dislodging and disintegratingoperation, and a cable pull assist having a pull cable extending alongthe face of a mine vein between the face and the line of the roof propsand connected to the frame of said dislodging and disintegratingmechanism outwardly of the face for counteracting the forces tending tomove said mechanism outwardly from the face and for supplementing saidpropelling means in the propulsion of the machine.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said cable pull assistexerts a constant pulling force and is adapted to stall when saidpropelling means is stopped and while said assist continues to exertsuch pulling force.

9. A combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein said dislodging anddisintegrating mechanism includes continuously transversely movingdisintegrating elements disposed in horizontal planes and travelinginwardly of the face.

10. A combination as set forth in claim 9 wherein said disintegratingelements are carried by a transversely moving portion of an endlessdisintegrating chain traveling inwardly of the face.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,263,779 Jeffrey et al Nov. 25, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 883,882 GermanyJuly 23, 1953

